It's two in the afternoon when there's a knock on Aurora's door. She groans and pulls herself out of bed to politely answer the door instead of ignoring it like she used to when she was hooked on drugs.
Her hands rub at her eyes before she stands on her toes to look through the tiny peephole. Aurora isn't sure if she's happy to see the familiar head of curly hair or not and she hesitates for a long moment before eventually opening the door for her ex-lover.
Harry's eyebrows briefly knit together. He shakes his head and meets her eyes with an almost pained look. "Can we talk?"
Aurora notices that his hands are shoved in his pockets and he's gently rocking on his heels, something that he only does when he's nervous. Puzzled with his behavior and still half asleep, she moves aside and lets him in as she mumbles, "Sure, I guess..."
He's kind of staring at her again and she has no idea why.
Harry's piecing things together because she's wearing one of the shirts that he gave her back when they were dating. She wouldn't hold on to it for no reason. Hell, he didn't even know that she still had it.
Aurora stands in the kitchen, glancing at him curiously as she pours herself a glass of orange juice. There isn't much that she can say because he's the one that asked to talk and she's got no idea what he's here to talk about.
Harry twists his fingers on the counter top and sighs lightly before he starts the conversation that brought him over in the first place. "Do you still have feelings for me?"
Aurora's dark eyes meet his, searching for answers of her own behind his question. "You already know that I do."
Almost as an afterthought, she adds in a slightly harsher tone, "Don't worry, you've made your point clear on more than one occasion."
He's frowning now and he doesn't know how to continue the conversation now that he knows Carter's right. She wants him to fix things with Aurora, but all he really wants is Carter, Carter, Carter.
"Look, I know that you don't like Carter, but she's the one that told me no because I can't leave things this way with you. I honestly don't know what to do, Aurora. She wants me to fix things with you, but all that I can think about fixing is how your heart still wants me while my heart wants someone else. So, what do we do? Please, tell me because I've got absolutely no idea how to get past this."
Near the end of his speech, Aurora notices that his features have softened considerably, his neutral expression now one of sadness, and she actually feels a little bad about still loving him.
She can't help it though. She loved him once and she screwed up just for the hell of it and, maybe, if she hadn't made that huge mistake, he'd still want her—would still be with her, and not Carter.
Her fingers tap aimlessly on the glass in her hand as she avoids making eye contact. "I screwed up back then. I really did, and I know that, but I also know that I wasn't myself when that happened because of all of the drugs. I broke your heart, which meant that you could move on, but you never broke mine that way. Although, you've gotten a lot better at that recently.
"I think that the only way I'll really get over you is if we tried again. But you're infatuated with Carter and, while that hurts, I can't stop myself from thinking about what might have happened with us if I didn't take you for granted like I did. And I also don't think that Carter told you to fix this. Why would she care for me at all after everything that she's heard about me and what she knows herself?"
Harry runs a hand through his hair, only to drop it and lift both hands to his face for a good while as he contemplates how to respond to everything that she's just said. He never knew that she regretted what she'd done to him, let alone that he hasn't broken her heart yet with all of the terrible things he's said to her.
After a very long silence, he speaks carefully, his green eyes meeting her dark ones. "So, you want to try to make things work again?"
Aurora's lips part slightly and close briefly before they open again and she nods. "Yes."
Harry sighs and drums his fingers along the countertop, "And if it doesn't work out like you think that it will, you'll move on?"
"Yes."
The entire idea sounds ridiculous to him because she already knows that he doesn't have any romantic feelings for her anymore. Even if they do try, his heart won't ever be in it. But Carter wants him to fix this and if that's how Aurora thinks that she'll get over him, then he'll do it.
Harry nods and pulls out his phone, "Carter told me to fix this. Are you willing to talk to her and let her know that I am?"
He doesn't want to try again. Trying again means that he has to give up on Carter for a moment and he's been making so much progress with her recently. It's also really ridiculous considering that he has no romantic feelings for Aurora and it's destined to fail from the very start.
Aurora looks at him curiously, "Isn't she busy with the show?"
Harry shakes his head, curls bouncing lightly with action. "Not right now. They film in advance and she gave me a list of times of when she'll be free."
She nods and watches him intensely as he calls. He's so happy when she answers and he speaks to her like she's created the very stars themselves. It's immensely hard to believe that Carter has no ill will towards her.
After a few moments, Harry hands her the phone and she leaves the kitchen to talk with Carter out of his hearing range.
"Carter?"
"Yes, it's me. Listen, I know that you don't like me and you think that I don't like you as well, but that's not true. We're all human and I honestly don't have anything against you. But, I do know where you're coming from and Harry doesn't understand that, so I tried to make him understand. I know what it's like to love someone and not to have those feelings returned. I really do, and I think that maybe he's confused because of how things have been between the two of you.
"I don't know, that made more sense in my head. Anyway, I did tell him to talk to you and I did tell him no for more reasons than what he thinks. I really like him, I do, but maybe he's right for you and I don't want to get in the middle of things that are unresolved. So, do what you have to do. I can't be mad at you for having a heart too."
Aurora feels terrible for all of the horrible things that she's thought about Carter and she's crying and wiping her eyes. "You really don't mind?"
Carter takes a moment to decide what she wants to say. "No, I do mind, but not for the reasons that you think."
"He really likes you, you know."
Carter nods, a small smile rising to her lips, "I know."
"I'm really sorry for thinking about you in such a bad way for all this time."
"Don't worry about it."
Carter doesn't need to say anything else and she hangs up, leaving Aurora to decide what she really wants to do.
Harry really likes this woman and she actually likes him too, but she's pushing her feelings aside, in-part, for Aurora's sake even though she really doesn't deserve it.
Harry knocks softly on the door, "Everything okay?"
Aurora nods and wipes her eyes as she stands from the mattress to meet him at the door. "I shouldn't have let you go like that, but, either way, I'm not the one that deserves you."
She shakes her head and more tears start to fall down her cheeks, "Be with Carter. She likes you more than you think she does."
It surprises her when familiar arms wrap around her and pull her to his chest, his soft lips placing a soft kiss atop her head.
Harry speaks gently against her hair, "You'll find someone, Aurora. Just give it time."
She doesn't think so, but she doesn't argue and he leaves her with a thank you and a kiss on the cheek.
He leaves his phone alone for most of the day and paints to his heart's content for a few hours. Eventually he decides that it's time to talk to Carter, but she's not in the mood to talk to him and she won't answer, even though he knows that she isn't busy.
Harry tries a few more times to no avail before he decides to send her a text.
Please answer me, Carter. I really need to talk to you.
Carter reads his message and locks her screen. He's been trying to talk to her for hours and she doesn't want to answer because she has a pretty good feeling that he's going to tell her that he's giving Aurora another chance.
Her phone vibrates again and she ignores it until the vibrations start to become constant.
"Harry, you need to stop."
"You need to give me a chance to speak, first."
Carter's shocked by his instant and blunt response, but she's also incredibly impressed. "Okay, then talk."
"I don't know what you said to her, but whatever it was changed her mind. She doesn't want me anymore; she wants you to have me."
She laughs lightly, "You make it sound like you're some sort of possession."
"My heart certainly is."
"Harry."
He grins, "Carter."
Carter likes the way that he's said her name, something about it has her feeling really good about herself. And she really enjoys the slow way that he talks, letting his lips wrap around every syllable and letting how low voice roll out smoothly. She could listen to him talk all day.
She laughs lightly and chews on her lower lip, "Stop that."
Harry's voice is playful, "Why?"
Carter struggles to come up with an answer and she can practically hear him smiling through the phone. "You're ridiculous."
Harry laughs, "And you're ridiculously hard to get."
"And yet, here you are, still trying to get me."
"You're worth getting."
Carter blushes, "Did she really say that? That she wants me to have you?"
"Not in those exact words, but yes, she did. That is, if you actually want me."
"And what if I don't?"
"Then I'll just have to try a little harder."
Carter's smiling from ear to ear, "You're not going to leave me alone until I say yes, are you?"
"Precisely."
"Tell you what, if you manage to sell half of the massive collection of works that feature me, while I'm over here working my ass off to get my masterpiece out there, you'll get that yes."
Harry perks up immediately, "Really? That's it? There's no fine print?"
Carter laughs and looks outside of her window to the glowing city below. "No fine print, I promise."
"I really want to kiss you right now."
"You've got your pillow."
Harry grins, "Right, I've got my pillow."
"Can I call you back after I take a shower?"
"You can call me whenever you want, Carter."
Carter blushes, "Okay. Goodbye for now, Harry."
"Think of me in the shower! Goodbye for now, Carter."